THE BOEING CO. is reportedly talking with its suppliers about the feasibility of eventually boosting production rates of its 787 to as many as 16 jets a month.

That would be more than double the highest production rate for any previous Boeing or Airbus widebody jet.

There have been frequent reports that Boeing is aiming to set 787 rates at 10 to 13 planes a month, but the company apparently is looking at possibly going well beyond that rate.

Douglas Caster, chief executive of Ultra Electronics, a British company that makes parts for the 787, told Reuters that Boeing is "talking to the supply chain about raising 787 output from 14 to 16 aircraft a month."

Boeing has made no secret that it will boost production of its 787 after the first 112 Dreamliners have been built for customers in 2008 and 2009. Boeing will not increase production sooner because it does not want to overtax its supply chain. That's what happened in the late 1990s. Boeing tried to ramp up production too quickly, and assembly lines in Renton and in Everett broke down when suppliers could not keep up and jetliner parts did not arrive on time.

The 787 is being readied for its maiden flight at the end of September. Deliveries to airlines are supposed to begin in late May.

With nearly 700 orders so far, the 787 is the fastest-selling jet ever developed by Boeing or Airbus. But that has presented a difficult challenge for Boeing -- 787 production positions are essentially sold out through 2013. Boeing must boost production to get more planes to that growing customer base.

Although Boeing does not publicly discuss production rates for any of its jets, it has not quibbled with published reports that it could boost production to as many as 13 787s a month sometime after 2009.

An executive with Thales, the French company that is supplying parts for the 787, including the in-flight entertainment system, said a week ago that Boeing was looking at 787 production rates of 11 to 13 planes a month.

At a media briefing last month before the public unveiling in Everett of the first 787, Mike Bair, vice president of the 787, talked about the ongoing study of 787 production rates. He said Boeing is working closely with its partners.

"What we are trying to avoid is making a premature decision on rates that would cause a lot of people to build a lot of facilities they might not need," Bair said.

Unlike in previous jetliner programs, Boeing picked key partners to produce most of the 787. Large, partner-manufactured 787 sections are then flown to the Everett plant, where Boeing workers complete final assembly. That new way of building jets will enable Boeing to complete final assembly of a 787 is as few as six days by the 100th plane, according to Bair. The goal is to get that down to only three days in final assembly. That compares with about 14 days in final assembly for the 777.

Connexion update. Boeing announced a year ago this month that after a six-year effort, it was pulling the plug on its unprofitable Connexion business, which offered satellite-based, high-speed Internet service to air travelers. At the time, only 156 commercial jets with 10 airlines -- no U.S. carriers -- were equipped with Connexion.

A few months later, in November, Panasonic Avionics Corp., which is based in California but has offices in the Seattle area, said it hoped to secure enough airline commitments to equip up to 500 jetliners with a satellite-based Internet service that would be better and cheaper than Connexion.

So what happened to Panasonic's Internet-in-the sky dream?

The business model has radically changed, and Panasonic Avionics no longer requires a customer base of 500 planes before it goes forward, a company executive said Monday.

Panasonic Avionics has negotiated an arrangement with Intelsat that allows only as much satellite transponder capacity as needed to be leased. Portions of transponder channels on satellites can also be leased on very short notice.

Intelsat Ltd. is the world's largest provider of commercial satellite-communications services. It owns and operates more than 50 communications satellites.

"The economics are much, much better" than Connexion's, said David Bruner, a marketing and sales executive with Panasonic Avionics. "You are not wasting capacity. It's a revolutionary way to approach the business."

Using risk-sharing partners, including airlines, Panasonic Avionics has a much different business strategy from Boeing's. It will sell the necessary equipment to an airline; Boeing owned the Connexion hardware.

Bruner said he expects the first airlines to announce in the next few months that they will offer the Panasonic service, and it should be operating on jetliners by the first quarter of 2008.

Some of Boeing's Connexion customers are likely to be the first to use the Panasonic system. Lufthansa was the initial launch customer for Connexion. Other airlines followed, including Singapore, Japan Airlines, SAS and All Nippon.

Panasonic Avionics and its partners have developed better equipment than the older Connexion system. The antenna that fits on top of the jet, for example, is smaller and lighter than Boeing's and eventually will be available in different sizes to accommodate smaller single-aisle jets and not just the bigger widebody planes. The antenna produces much less drag on a plane than Boeing's.

Correction: In last week's Aerospace Notebook, I reported on the in-flight entertainment system that Thales will put on the 787. I mistakenly said that the Thales system will be on the first A380 that goes to Singapore Airlines. In fact, Singapore Airlines selected Panasonic for its IFE requirements, and the Panasonic system will be on the airline's A380s, the first of which will be delivered in October. Singapore Airlines already has the Panasonic IFE system on some of its other jets, including its growing fleet of 777-300ERs.

Panasonic and Thales were both picked by Boeing to supply the in-flight entertainment system for the 787.